11 April 2009

At first the whole Tea Party phenomenon sounded a little dull. I mean, how do you compete in the laughs department with unhinged hippies protesting in trees like a bunch of Ewoks in Phish shirts? But the Media Matters Alinskyites have dispatched their army of flying monkeys to discredit the protests as mobs of Timothy Mcveighs. Huffington Post is gearing up their "investigative journalism" division to find the lone nut comparing Obama to Satan. And the ever on-point Andrew Sullivan had this to say:

These are not tea-parties. They are tea-tantrums. And the adolescent, unserious hysteria is a function not of a movement regrouping and refinding itself. It's a function of a movement's intellectual collapse and a party's fast-accelerating nervous breakdown.

With this much hand-wringing, something interesting is bound to happen. At the very least, I'll get to observe some skinny-jeaned hipsters mounting a counter-protest. Gay Patriot has a simple message as to the point of this whole thing:

In constrast to the Obama campaign, the “tea party” phenomenon is based on an idea, that of small government and personal freedom. As such, it could have greater staying power.

A more detailed explanation of the purpose can be found here. Schedules for your state are up here. Will post pics of wherever one I end up going...which is a function of who lets me crash on their couch that night.

9
comments:

Petulant protesters -- in the streets, no less! Will they wear red, white and blue flag shirts, desecrating the flag like their hero Toby Keith, without even knowing it? Or will it be dominated by bobos wearing neutrals?

If it occurs in any number, it'll be interesting.

At least they're not doing the erzats "meet ups" on Second Life whilst actually sitting in frayed BVD's, swilling Bud Light and feeling like they're part of things.

I actually know quite a few people who are well informed and give a damn. The only problem is motivation; and seeing as how I live on an island (literally) on the other side of the World from the White House, it's kinda hard to get out there to do anything that isn't online or mailing anything in.

I saw a photo today of a government protester in Thailand: one man, knelt in front of a cordon of shielded and highly weaponized police.

That is powerful protest and a powerful photo. That kind of challenge to power comes with a price, though. Are we willing to be clubbed and thrown in jail? We have seen what Americans can do to people they throw in jail. Habeas corpus is no longer a guaranteed right.

As our rights are being gutted (Obama supports Bush's denial of legal challenge by the 6-yr. Bagram detainees), are we willing to risk our lives for something which may no longer even exist?

Does this mean you're starting up the Marianas Tea Party? That'd be cool.

Lisa,

The Thai protests are a whole nother ball of wax. Those protests actually result in the entire government being changed (for better or for worse). I'm not allowed to have an opinion on Thai politics, but for the time being I find that "I support the King" goes a long way.

Who is This Clown?

Nixon is a former Navy guy who did a couple of deployments at sea and spent a year in Iraq. He enjoys reading and writing about the strange intersection between war, politics, and the media. He enjoys being an ex-pat and NGO employee in Bangkok for the time being.